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Making fringe is not for the weak of heart; this is without a doubt one of the most time consuming (but rewarding and oddly meditative) costuming projects I’ve taken on. Egyptian fringe is available ready-made online and in some dance shops, but can be extremely difficult to color-match to a costume and expensive. My “Princess Jasmine” costume (featured in Jareeda magazine’s 2011 costuming issue) needed a little extra swing, so I decided to add some fringe to the belt, making my own to ensure a perfect color match. Past experiences laboriously threading seed beads onto thread to make small beaded sections on costumes had put me off from making fringe, but purchasing a bead spinner made the task much easier.

Want to make your own Egyptian fringe? Here’s what you need to make approximately 40″ of fringe, the perfect length for a hip belt.

seed beads (this example used approximately 3 bags of Darice Big Value! of size 10 beads. Most manufacturers sell beads by weight, so that would be 90 grams. Weight/number of beads may vary depending on the size of the bead you use and your specific measurements.)

tip: all thread and ribbon colors should blend with your costume and fringe (the colors here are just suggestions)

Determine how long you want your fringe to be. You can even Photoshop fringe into a photo to visualize the final effect. This technique uses double-long bead strands that will be folded in half to achieve the desired length. Ex: if you want 4″ fringe you’ll make 8″ strands.

Use the bead spinner to quickly create a strand of beads. Tie the knot at each end around the final bead and secure with a dot of Fray Check. With practice, this step takes 2 minutes or less per strand.

Using the denim thread and crochet hook, use a crochet chain stitch to make a 2″ long piece that will mark the beginning of your fringe.

Start your next chain stitch; before wrapping the thread around the needle and pulling it through the loop, drape the folded bead strand over the thread, taking care to make sure it’s even. Once the strand is placed, draw the crochet hook through the thread loop. Create a regular chain stitch, then one with a bead strand; continue alternating this pattern until you’ve reached the desired length. You can change the number of plain stitches in between beaded stitches (or eliminate them completely) to change the thickness of your fringe.

Finish off the fringe strand with another 2″ of regular chain stitch.

From here, you have two choices. A) Apply the fringe as-is to your project; since the crocheted thread is flexible, this makes applying it to a round surface like a dance bra much easier. B) Sew the fringe to a length of satin or grosgrain ribbon, and then sew the ribbon to your project. This is a great choice if you might remove the fringe to use on another project in the future, as it is much simpler to pull out stitches from the ribbon than from the crochet stitches, or if you need extra support for the fringe. I recommend doing this if you are applying the fringe to a belt, as the beads become very heavy and are subjected to much more intense movement than on a bra. Stitch the crocheted denim thread down the middle to the edge of the ribbon using heavy-duty thread; use the same heavy-duty thread to sew the ribbon to the costume.

Shimmy, and enjoy your beautiful new fringe!

Besides the initial investment in a bead spinner (around $20), this is a very cost effective project considering 40″ of solid-colored 4″ long beaded fringe STARTS at $40 plus shipping. All told, the supplies for this fringe cost around $25.